Fortuna council adopts fee schedule for 2025–26; approves $100 team processing fee for adult sports

Fortuna — The Fortuna City Council on June 3 adopted Resolution 2025‑17, establishing a schedule of fees and charges for administrative, building, community development, parks and recreation, police, River Lodge, transit, and water and wastewater services for fiscal year 2025–26.

At a public hearing, staff said the proposed fees were evaluated based on the cost of providing services and comparisons with neighboring agencies. The packet included adopted fees from FY24–25, proposed changes and the FY25–26 fees. Council members asked clarifying questions about how the recreation holiday weeks are charged and about user experience on OpenGov, the city’s new online portal.

Separately, the council approved an early implementation of a new adult sports team processing fee so the fee would be in place for the upcoming softball season. Interim Parks and Recreation Director Caitlin Stainbrook said the city proposed a $100 flat team processing fee to replace individual player transactions — historically $5 for residents and $10 for nonresidents — to ease staff workload when handling dozens of individual payments. Stainbrook said last year’s adult basketball league had 73 individual transactions; the flat fee will streamline registration while producing similar revenue on average.

Council member questions prompted a minor clarification: language will be added to the fee schedule to explain proration for holiday weeks. No public commenters objected during the hearing.

The resolution was adopted by voice vote with one council member voting no on a prior related item; the roll call for the fee resolution recorded unanimous support from council members present. The adult sports team processing fee was approved by roll call vote with all present voting yes.

Staff said the city will update the fee schedule language to clarify how holiday weeks are prorated and will continue to address user issues with the OpenGov platform.